There was Lou Gehrig's farewell speech in 1939, and Dave Righetti's no-hitter against Boston in 1983. It's George Steinbrenner's birthday, so it's always an important date to circle on New York's calendar.

Kevin Youkilis made the final Fourth at the ballpark truly memorable, sparking a come-from-behind 6-4 victory for the Red Sox on Friday with one of the strangest triples you'll ever see.

Mike Lowell drove in four runs, including a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the fifth against Darrell Rasner (4-7), who lost for the seventh time in eight starts. But Youkilis created the lasting memory, hitting a drive that left New York's Johnny Damon with a sprained and bruised left shoulder, a momentum turner that sent the punchless Yankees to their fifth loss in six games.

"This could be a big trouble spot for us," Damon said.

With New York leading 3-1 in the third, Youkilis hit a two-out scorcher with two on. Damon raced back, jumped and gloved it but as he crashed into the left-field fence, the ball popped out of the webbing of his glove. It bounced up off the top of the wall.

And bounced. And bounced.

The ball came to rest on top of the fence, which was shaking from Damon's impact. And there the sphere sat, like the golf ball teetering over the cup in "Caddyshack." The sellout crowd of 55,130 at Yankee Stadium wondered: Would it fall behind for a home run, roll back onto the field or just sit there?

"It was bizarre," Lowell said. "I've been playing awhile. I've never seen anything like that before."

Finally, the ball dropped back in and landed near Damon, who was sprawled on the warning track. A fan behind the fence frantically pointed to the ball. Youkilis cruised into third base as Boston tied it at 3.

Damon checked his glove to determine whether he made the catch. Then he looked around for the ball.

"I had no clue," he said. "When I didn't see it at first, I thought it might have been a home run."

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